Opinion

Itty Biddy more

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When Chancellor Biddy Martin introduced her new Madison Initiative for Undergraduates, she did so in front of dozens of University of Wisconsin student leaders, including members of this editorial board. Instead of holding a press conference with solely university administrators, legislative leaders and other supporters, Martin opened the doors of her home to hold informal roundtable discussions on her innovative plan.

This signaled an important part of Martin’s plan — incorporating students, answering their questions, hearing their praise and receiving their critiques. She fielded initial support and resistance from students at the dinner and devoted herself to listening more.

Student leaders can certainly have a fair amount of impact on a greater number of students — spreading details of the initiative by word of mouth through student organizations has perhaps the strongest outreach effect.

Nevertheless, we hope Martin takes even greater steps to involve students who have never been tapped for counsel in the past. Forums and e-mails only go so far, so we encourage the chancellor to go a step future: Visit classes, talk to students at libraries or the Union — use her visibility and position to listen to the concerns of more than just student leaders.

Additionally, the main crux of the initiative students care about — the fact tuition will increase — understandably leaves students with a bitter taste in their mouths. It is clear tuition is expected to increase considerably here, throughout the Big Ten and across the country. We hope students will listen to Martin and her surrogates’ reasons for the initiative before automatically discounting it. While we acknowledge there may be reasons not to support a tuition increase, it should not immediately spark condemnation.

We have praised Martin for her new and creative plan to enhance the undergraduate experience on this campus, but many students’ opinions are left unacknowledged. Students need to be open to Martin’s arguments, and Martin should seek out additional ways to reach her audience.